New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber (pic­tured) recent­ly voiced her sup­port for extend­ing the state’s mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions, not­ing that she does not believe the death penal­ty is a ​“nec­es­sary tool” for pros­e­cu­tors and believes cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment does not deter crime. ​“I don’t think it’s a deter­rent. And I under­stand revenge. I think some peo­ple deserve it. But I don’t think it’s a nec­es­sary tool.… I don’t have a philo­soph­i­cal or reli­gious oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty, I have a prac­ti­cal oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty,” Farber stat­ed.

There are 10 peo­ple on New Jersey’s death row and the state has­n’t car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 1963, a fact that Farber argues does not make the state less safe. She notes that death penal­ty cas­es are very cost­ly and there is no assur­ance that the results will be per­fect. Costs, the needs of vic­tim’s fam­i­ly mem­bers, and ques­tions about the fair­ness and accu­ra­cy of New Jersey’s death penal­ty are among the chief con­cerns that will be addressed by a task force that New Jersey leg­is­la­tors estab­lished in January 2006. ​“I sup­port the mora­to­ri­um being extend­ed. I would wel­come the analy­sis of data and what­ev­er the com­mis­sion is going to look at and I would not oppose ces­sa­tion,” Farber con­clud­ed. (Associated Press, March 16, 2006). 

See New Voices and Deterrence.

Tags
Citation Guide